Health 'Score' on Food Packages May Help Consumers Make Healthier Choices

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For people trying to wade though nutrition labels and choose
healthy options, a front-of-package food label that boils down
nutrition information to a single "score" may be the most
user-friendly approach, a new study suggests.

In recent years, the fronts of some food packages have been
decorated with short
food labels, which are intended to briefly summarize a
product's nutrition, and make unhealthy ingredients (such as high
levels of saturated fat) highly visible to consumers.

However, there is currently no standard for what information
needs to be on these labels, leading to a variety of
front-of-package food labeling systems that may confuse
consumers, said study researcher Christina A. Roberto, a
psychologist and epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public
Health.

Experts say that a single, uniform food label should be adopted,
but before this can happen, researchers need to know what works
best. The new study attempted to help answer this question by
comparing five front-of-package food labeling systems, as well as
packages with no label. [ 12
Tips for Eating Healthy on a Budget ]

More than 1,000 people, about half of whom were actively trying
to lose weight, were randomly assigned to view food products with
one of the following labels:

A "Facts Up Front" label, which was created by the food
industry and contains information about calories, saturated fat,
sodium and sugars, as well as any noteworthy vitamins.

A "NuVal" label, a proprietary labeling system that gives
products a score from 1 to 100 based on a product's nutritional
quality; higher scores denote healthier products.

A single traffic light symbol, which is colored red, yellow
or green based on the healthfulness of the product.

A label depicting multiple "traffic lights," in which
different nutrients get their own red/yellow/green symbol (such
as green for saturated
fat, but yellow for sodium).

A star system, in which a product is given 0 to 3 stars based
on its nutrition quality.

No label

In a simulated online shopping task, participants viewed
different soups, cereals, beverages, rice products and ice
creams, and were asked to choose which products they would like
to eat this week.

The only food labeling system that prompted people to pick
healthier soups was the NuVal label, the study found.

When shown two products and asked, "Which is healthier?" the
NuVal label, along with the multiple traffic-light label, worked
best to help participants identify which product was truly
healthier.

However, those who viewed the NuVal label were able to choose the
healthier product in half the time as those who viewed the
multiple traffic-light label, Roberto said.

Based on these preliminary data, NuVal is probably "the most
user-friendly," Roberto said. The simplicity of the system (with
just one number), and the fact that it allows users to compare
products with high and low numbers, may be helpful to consumers,
Roberto said.

However, much more research is needed to confirm the findings,
including studies of "real-world" purchasing scenarios, Roberto
said.

In addition, it's not clear how much front-of-package labels help
consumers overall. In the study, the food labels did not help
consumers pick healthier cereals, beverages, rice products or ice
creams.

However, Roberto argues these labels have a purpose.

"It might not massively shift behavior, but I think it's still
worth informing consumers," Roberto said. "It might influence
behavior some of the time, and that can still have an important
and meaningful public health impact."

And if front-of-package labels were mandatory — as proposed in a
recent congressional bill — food companies may be pressured
change their products so they are healthier (to get a higher
NuVal score, or more "green" traffic lights, for instance).

If a uniform front-of-package label system is rolled out,
consumers should be educated regarding how to interpret and use
the labels, Roberto said.

The study was presented last week at the American Public Health
Association meeting in Boston.